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HIV/HCV Coinfection Remains Marginalized Despite Progress

The population of patients coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C in the U.S. remains largely marginalized for one reason or another. They are opioid drug users, Medicaid recipients, men who have sex with men; often, they are all the above. The fact that there are medications in the marketplace that can control or cure their dual infections makes their predicament even more frustrating. These are people who, clinically speaking, should be leading normal, healthy lives. Yet they are not.

Lianping Ti, PhD, a research scientist with the Epidemiology and Population Health program at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, has focused largely on addiction. “You can’t understate that the over-prescription of opioids for pain has been a huge issue,” she said. “Trying to address the comorbid conditions of HIV, HCV and illicit drug use presents a host of challenges.”

Among the most important challenges is reinfection, according to Vincent Lo Re III, MD, MSCE, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. “The CDC and national and international societies need accurate and specific information to take the next steps toward hepatitis C elimination,” he said. “It is very important that we address hepatitis C treatment in high-risk subgroups to reduce the burden of liver disease, decrease hepatitis C transmission, and minimize hepatitis C reinfection after cure. These activities are crucial if we are to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health problem.”